Around 100 years ago no one remembered the Holocaust. They also did not recall the hundreds of thousands of young men (almost exclusively) who died in World War One. Nor did they remember those who died in the next Great War, about 100 million I think. They also did not recall for posterity the 14 victims of the Montreal Massacre.

People did not recall these horrific events because they had not yet happened. Things have changed. Today we spend a lot of energy keeping the memories of those events alive. During the last several decades dark memories have been collected. The fall in Canada is filled with remembrance events and stories of war.

At the community college nearest me, students heard from a Holocaust survivor, Philip Riteman. Now 88 years old, he tours our region telling students how his family did not believe his brother when he came home to say that Jews were being shot in the village square. By the time he and his family were placed in railroad cattle cars, he probably did believe. The "one-hour ride" by train to a new "settlement" turned into a day and a half. A baby cried non-stop for over 18 hours. Finally she stopped and the body stiffened. The "settlement" had a name. Auschwitz.

Early every December, thousands pause to recall the slaying of the 14 women in Montreal. Even in some of our Catholic university colleges faculty seem more concerned to observe their deaths than the great Catholic-Christian holiday called Christmas.

At the same time, while these memorials to atrocities pile up, every year the real meaning of Christmas is undermined by gift buying and giving. I am not saying that the buying and giving of gifts is, in itself, a bad thing. I engage in both every Christmas. What I am saying about Christmas is that with so much attention being given to the exchange of gifts, the real meaning of Christmas has become obscure.

This is very unfortunate for us all. It is unfortunate because the real meaning of Christmas is an antidote needed to counter the memories of horror and the fear that more of it is coming if we don't fuel those memories to the best of our ability.

What do I mean by the real meaning of Christmas? I do not mean the sentimentality that says that we must all try to spend our way to happiness for one day and then, disappointed perhaps, return to our usual patterns of living for the rest of year. I mean that God became a human being. This happened. I guarantee it.

The main reason many of us do not feel ready to believe is a simple one. It is not that the evidence for it - or for God for that matter, angels, and love being at the core of the world and many other things - is all that bad. It's pretty good if you go in for that kind of thing. The main reason many are not ready to believe the true meaning of Christmas is simply that our teachers and parents have not taught much about it when we were younger.

Ironically, just when we need a message of hope that will outstrip the memories of atrocity and mass killing that so fill our brains, the one we need to hear is barely audible. Economists are blathering on about the importance of boisterous December spending (as if an economy dependent on crazy Christmas spending is sustainable). The rest of us rush to our apartments every evening to make purchases online.

In the meantime, what we really need to understand is that God became a human being and lived with us. That changes everything. It means that God has not given up on us but is bound to work in our world with you and me. It means that we ought not give up on the pursuit of justice, dignity, freedom, compassion and, yes, love. Above all, love.

You will be able to go to churches anywhere in the country to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, some of the celebrations will be poorly planned and executed. Some will lack artistic integrity. But then again, much in our own lives is poorly planned and executed and lacking in artistic integrity.

So, maybe the thing to do this Christmas is to get to any church at all. To join the rest of group that's there, people who, like me and you, have their share of issues and failures. Beggars looking for a glimpse of the glory of God. With some luck, we'll see what we came searching for.
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